Bluegrass fans in and around Cornwall are getting some love next week, with one of the hottest Canadian bands in the genre set to play at the Aultsville Theatre on Sept. 13.

The Slocan Ramblers is a group currently based out of Toronto, where it has risen as one of the stand-out bands in the metropolis’ thriving bluegrass scene. Yes, there is a bluegrass music scene in Toronto.

“A group of us got together and began going to weekly bluegrass shows and quickly ended up with our own weekly show,” recalled Adrian Gross, the band’s mandolin player. “There’s actually a lot of bluegrass in Toronto, and a lot of good roots music in general. It’s a good scene for it in Canada. It’s easy to find if you look for it, or stumble into it as they say.”

Since the band was formed in 2011, the Slocan Ramblers has received rave reviews – including from the BBC – and the band garnered a 2019 Juno Award nomination for Traditional Roots Album of the Year.

This will be the first time the band performs in Cornwall, although it has played in eastern Ontario many times.

Deeply rooted in traditional bluegrass music, the band instills both the old and the modern into the creative process, influenced by artists including The Stanley Brothers, Norman Blake and Steve Earle, and is adept at blending devilishly intricate and lightning-quick instrumentals with sawdust-thick vocals.

Gross said he personally got into bluegrass after finding a Doc Watson album in his uncle’s record collection.

“I was absolutely blown away, and I had to figure out what they were doing,” he recalled. “I was playing blues, jazz and folk music all my life, but never bluegrass. This was the first time I had heard it, and it just floored me.”

Some of the money from next week’s show will go towards helping make improvements at Aultsville Theatre, which recently replaced is aging lighting system and is now focused on upgrading its sound system as well.

The theatre is expecting a big crowd to come and hear a fiercely inventive group that possesses a bold, dynamic sound, the Slocan Ramblers quickly becoming the leading light of Canada’s roots music scene.

“We became instant fans of the Slocan Ramblers upon first hearing them play,” said Janet Martel, the Aultsville Theatre general manager. “They’re such an energetic young band, with amazing musicianship – we’re certain our Cornwall audience will enjoy this one.”

Gross said that people can expect an energetic live show that will be very different than most other acoustic band concerts people have ever been to.

Tickets are $40, not including surcharges, and are available in advance at the Cornwall Civic Complex box office, by phone at 613-938-9400 and online at www.aultsvilletheatre.com.